Lady Gaga’s Iconic Superbowl Jump Was Pre-Recorded and Those Fireworks Were Robotic Drones: Here’s How It Happened

Lady Gaga’s jump and fireworks during Super Bowl 2017 halftime show have been etched in the history of all time great Super Bowl stunts. However, both iconic moments were pre-recorded instead of being performed live. Intel collaborated with Lady Gaga and Pepsi to make the extraordinary act happen.

The ‘Pre-Recorded’ Act

People might have been glued to the television screens with their jaws wide open when Lady Gaga did her own version of “mic drop” by dropping herself off of the roof of Houston’s stadium. But it turns out that it was not really happening in real time, as it is a pre-recorded footage. The same holds true for the array of fireworks that formed the American flag against the night sky.

For days prior to the main event, several small drones were seen flying low around the city of Houston. “We were on site for nine days, so we got the proper waivers to fly in Class C airspace up to 700 feet,” said Natalie Cheung, the general manager of Intel, USA Today reported. “We were testing out our drones, tweaking our animations throughout this whole process, and we filmed for one night, and it was perfect,” Cheung said.

Lady Gaga was onboard with the entire plan since the very beginning, which was important to its success. Even the NFL creative team had to work in close collaboration with Intel’s technicians to ensure that everything went on without a glitch. The mission was simple — to merge art and technology. This was achieved to perfection, down to the last drone that dotted the Pepsi logo in the heavens.

Reasons for Pre-Recording the Jump and Fireworks

One question that could be bothering people is why choose the option of pre-recording at all in a live show. Cheung had a pretty logical answer to that. According to her, weather played a vital role in making or breaking the show. Since no one could predict whether it would end up raining heavily during the program, it was best to play it safe, Billboard reported.

The Intel team did not want to risk such an elaborate set up only to have the roof of the stadium closed off. It would have meant hundreds of fans missing out on the spectacle, which would have been disappointing. And when it came to Lady Gaga, “it’s a bit hard for her to go from the roof all the way down to the floor of the stadium.” Hence, they decided to go with an option that allowed them to redefine the future of entertainment as well as ensure that nothing hampered an amazing show.